American Airlines pilots’ union says labor deal may be close

The Allied Pilots Association (APA)—the union that represents pilots for AMR Corp.’s American Airlines (AA)—announced yesterday that the two parties may be close to an agreement. The union and AA pilots have been embroiled in labor contract negotiations for years.

"There is potential for an agreement with AMR in the days ahead, but it all comes down to a number of moves management will need to make on key deal points to bring us into the realm of industry standard," the union said in a statement.

The union wanted its pilots’ contracts to be comparable to those of other pilots in the airline industry. The union specifically called out the contracts of Delta Air Lines’ pilots as ideal on issues such as pay.

Earlier this month, the union announced that the two parties had reached an agreement on certain elements of the contract such as improvements to disability plans, but other major issues, specifically pay rates, remained unresolved.

AA Spokesman Bruce Hicks told Thomson Reuters that Denise Lynn, the company’s vice president of people, said that “good progress has been made and we are approaching a deal that we hope the APA board of directors will soon agree to put out for a ratification vote."